Latest / Best of Business / Sam: caller on whether implementing price controls for alcohol at off-licence stores will help the hospitality industry

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Sam: caller on whether implementing price controls for alcohol at off-licence stores will help the hospitality industry · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
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  Speaker 2: So we're talking about the price of alcohol at off
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  Speaker 2: versus on licenses. Off licenses, your liquor stores, your supermarkets,
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  Speaker 2: on licenses, bars, restaurants and cafes, et cetera. There has
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  Speaker 2: been a growing call for off licensed premises to have
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  Speaker 2: an increase in the price of alcohol and bars and
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  Speaker 2: restaurants take the text off completely.
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  Speaker 3: That is your Yeah, no one else is calling for that,
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  Speaker 3: only I'm calling for that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Someone says I agree with Matt, but don't get behind
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  Speaker 3: a wheel Absolutely, one hundred percent. Yeah, I mean that
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  Speaker 3: is Hi, guys, are the damage done? The damage done
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  Speaker 3: would change as many of those drinking out would be
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  Speaker 3: tempted to drive home. Thanks Brett. I'm not tempted to
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  Speaker 3: drive home when I'm drinking out. I think, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I think we're getting the message through not to drink drive,
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  Speaker 3: aren't we. I mean, yeah, absolutely slam people that drink
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  Speaker 3: drive and to get home. Yep, absolutely, yea, yeah, absolutely,
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  Speaker 3: But I think people going out and look, the thing
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  Speaker 3: is that people aren't always going out to get hammered.
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  Speaker 3: People go to a restaurant and have a glass of wine, right,
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  Speaker 3: and that should I just don't think that four My
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  Speaker 3: point is eighty four percent of its drunk off off licenses, right.
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  Speaker 3: We want people drinking. I personally want people drinking at
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  Speaker 3: bars because it hires people, that brings community together. There's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of great things, and it's a much safer place,
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  Speaker 3: and nearly all the damage from alcohol happens from people
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  Speaker 3: drinking at home. This person says, if the XIS text
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  Speaker 3: was removed to make it an equal playing field for
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  Speaker 3: off licenses in HOSPO, I can only imagine higher profits
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  Speaker 3: to be made from HOSPO because they'll mark it up.
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  Speaker 3: But if this higher profits made by HOSPO, then they
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  Speaker 3: invest more, they hire more, and that's a good thing.
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  Speaker 3: Right now, they are just holding on a lot of
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  Speaker 3: people complaining about how much alcohol is out is that's
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  Speaker 3: because it's so expensive to run a venue with staff,
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  Speaker 3: with rings security, with the fact that you have to
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  Speaker 3: be open seven days a week. But people are only
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  Speaker 3: going out on a Friday and a Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: They've got more regulations. They quite often need to have
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  Speaker 2: kitchen stuff. I mean, there's a myriad of reasons, but
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  Speaker 2: those are reasons why it is primarily a safer place
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  Speaker 2: to drink alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Right Yeah, Sam, welcome to the show. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: having me your thoughts on that sad But I'm.
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  Speaker 4: Quite passionate about the subject actually, and I'd like to
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  Speaker 4: speak speak how I feel about it. I feel like
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  Speaker 4: if you want to reduce the fulham in Auckland, we've
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  Speaker 4: got to look at where the real risk starts. That's
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  Speaker 4: not your local bar or live music venue. It is
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  Speaker 4: the liquor store. Right now, we walk into a bottle
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  Speaker 4: shop and pick up a high strength bottle of spirits
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  Speaker 4: or a box of archids next to nothing, and that
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  Speaker 4: drives the culture of drinking drinking heavily at home where
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  Speaker 4: there are no limits, no supervision and no support if
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  Speaker 4: something goes wrong. If you go to a venue, it's
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  Speaker 4: a completely different story. That security at the door, trains
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  Speaker 4: bar stuff at the bar, cleaners on site to manage
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  Speaker 4: the hygien so you don't need to clean up your
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  Speaker 4: platform with you know, often live music and entertainment which
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  Speaker 4: brings people together in a safe and social environment. I
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  Speaker 4: mean it's no brainer. We should be directing people to
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  Speaker 4: license venues where they have the safety and security, and
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  Speaker 4: they're built for holding people in a space where people
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  Speaker 4: are drinking.
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  Speaker 3: Do you think it's unfair Sam, that when people talk
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  Speaker 3: about the harm from alcohol they lump it all in together.
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  Speaker 3: So eighty four percent, as I keep saying, is brought
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  Speaker 3: and off licenses, and you know it's sixteen percent brought
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  Speaker 3: at bars and restaurants, but that is all lumped together,
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  Speaker 3: is one big thing. And as you say, Sam, one
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  Speaker 3: part of drinking has a you know, not always but
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  Speaker 3: has a community side to it and a positive side
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  Speaker 3: to it, and one side, I mean the other side
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  Speaker 3: does as well. But it's a very different experience, isn't it.
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  Speaker 3: So do you think it's fair that they're all lumped
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  Speaker 3: together and stats in the way we view.
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  Speaker 4: It's probably not fair. They're too completely different things, Ooka.
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  Speaker 4: I just live in Melbourne over in Australia, Victoria, and
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  Speaker 4: they have got that alcohol pricing right. They discounted for
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  Speaker 4: on licenses and off licenses. It's heavily packed and it
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  Speaker 4: basically puts the weight on the drink. So if you're
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  Speaker 4: at home, your drinking your hand that you've bought from
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  Speaker 4: the off license, it's going to cost equivalent to kind
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  Speaker 4: of what you would pay on an on license, So
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  Speaker 4: there's no incentive to smash the drinks because they're quite
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  Speaker 4: expensive to be frank, and it's not like in New
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  Speaker 4: Zealand where it averages to be about three dollars for
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  Speaker 4: a bear. There's no value on it here. That's where
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  Speaker 4: I think Albin's drinking culture stems from, is it's so
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  Speaker 4: cheap to drink at home.
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  Speaker 3: And I wonder if people would, you know, there's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of talk about preloading from young people before they
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  Speaker 3: go to bars because alcohol is expensive and you know,
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  Speaker 3: you're definitely not supposed to be in a bar if
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  Speaker 3: you esteemed there were laws around that. Yes, but preloading
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  Speaker 3: is a big thing, and that I think preloading is
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  Speaker 3: primarily a price thing, isn't it, Sam, It's.
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  Speaker 4: One hundred percent, you know, like if you say in
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  Speaker 4: the average drink is around three dollars at home from
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  Speaker 4: the off license, you know it's equivalent tool, but you
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  Speaker 4: drink fly for the price of a Boka soda in
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  Speaker 4: a bar. It's nonsensical, like to you know, if you're
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  Speaker 4: if you're a student or you know someone a bit
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  Speaker 4: younger that doesn't make too much money. Of course you're
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  Speaker 4: in a preload. It's way too expensive to drink in
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  Speaker 4: a bar and it drives help in drinking culture and
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  Speaker 4: it's a shame. It's such a shame. Whereas in Melbourne
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  Speaker 4: growing in up, we didn't have that so much because
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  Speaker 4: how cold was expensive. So what would we rather do?
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  Speaker 4: Would be rather be at home and a tiny flat
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  Speaker 4: drinking in a crowded house and then the flats just
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  Speaker 4: wrecked afterwards, and you know they've got to deal with
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  Speaker 4: the aftermath. Or do we just go to the lovely
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  Speaker 4: bar community bar down the road where there's a DJ playing.
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  Speaker 4: You know, there's staff that look after you.
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  Speaker 3: You might you might meet a lovely lady Sam.
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  Speaker 4: That's it. That's where all the culture starts.
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  Speaker 3: Or a new friend. Yeah, thank you so much for
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  Speaker 3: your call. Sold it. This Texas is breaking news. Muppets,
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  Speaker 3: supermarkets and liquor stores employ people and invest in our communities. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: but I don't know. Can you compare just one of
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  Speaker 3: those as the police officer and the story described it,
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  Speaker 3: one of these shittyers.
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  Speaker 2: Almost a great quote, wasn't it. He really laid into hold.
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  Speaker 3: Find that you know, uh, and they do. But can
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  Speaker 3: you com here at just one of those little you
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  Speaker 3: know exactly the kind of bottle store I'm describing with
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  Speaker 3: one person working behind the counter. And look, bless those
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  Speaker 3: people that work behind the counters and those bottle stores.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, that's one of the most terrifying jobs in
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. I mean certainly they yeah, they are
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  Speaker 2: targeted by a line of criminals.
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  Speaker 3: And look, Andrew, I appreciate your text, but I reckon
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  Speaker 3: the supermarket's going to be right. I reckon they'd be right.
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  Speaker 2: They'll do just fine. Thank you very much, Right keeno
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  Speaker 2: on your views on this on One hundred and eighteen
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  Speaker 2: eighty is the number to call.
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